Should I get Keychron's Q1? How does the Q1 compare to the GMMK pro?

Below is a round up of reviews and impression videos that have been released today with the end of the review embargo. There are quite a few of them, with potentially more on the way, so I grouped them to help people prioritize videos depending on who they might best relate to.

More premium enthusiasts' perspective:

• Andy Nguyen (review)

• Alexotos (build stream with multiple configurations)

• Shoobs (review)

• MechMerlin (unboxing)

Enthusiasts' perspective:

• Keybored (review)

• Hamaji Neo (review)

• BadSeed Tech (review)

• Nextrift (review)

• minimalistik (review)

Non-enthusiasts' perspective:

• randomfrankp (review)

• Shortcircuit (impressions)

• Dave2D (review)

If you're not sure where to start and you can only view one video, I'd recommend Keybored's review video as I personally found it to be the most comprehensive to the widest range of audiences.

Bottomline:

The reviews largely recommend the Keychron Q1 for what it is - an accessible, entry-level 75% custom mechanical keyboard - that competes very well against the GMMK Pro. The main praise is it's price point and value. The main critique is its stock hollow sound (more on that in a dedicated section below). Assuming the sound is tuned to your liking, the Keychron Q1 should offer a great custom keyboard experience to most people for its price point.

$Value:

It's quite competitively priced at $149 for the barebones kit, with even greater value for the Fully Assembled version (includes 80+ switches and keycaps) that comes at $169. One thing to keep in mind is that shipping starts at $30 in the US, whereas Glorious ships the GMMK Pro for free - given you can't pick either of those keyboards in a store, you can argue that the Keychron Q1 more realistically starts at $149+30=$179 for the barebones kit.

Core Differences from the GMMK Pro:

Sound/Hollowness:

Most reviewers observed a hollow sound profile for the Keychron Q1 in stock configuration. Several reviewers observed that you can decrease the hollow sound as you add more foam inside the case. However the trade off is that the additional foam could add more resistance to the PCB moving downward into the case, creating a more stiff typing experience. Keychron will also be shipping additional case foam for those that want to customize their Q1 with it.

There is some ambiguity here as Andy's original sound test video featured hollow sounds across a variety of configurations, whereas Alex's stream seemed to "fix" the hollow sound fairly easily with poly fil and/or the tape mod. Both are credible keyboard builders. As always, your mileage may vary. [insert rant about how everything all the way down to your mom's breakfast tomorrow evening affects sound tests]

Marcia and Alex's Thoughts:

Marcia and Alex gave further thoughts on their Whats new in Keyboards 8/26-9/3 stream. Alex claimed that the stock Q1 was the best prebuilt keyboard experience he's had. He has recently been daily driving his modded Q1 over the Thera75, which is a keyboard that he, Andy and MechMerlin have given positive reviews for. Both Alex and Marcia believe the Q1 can be a great gateway into the custom mechanical keyboard hobby from prebuilts. They still crown the IKKI68 Aurora as the best entry level keyboard kit overall, and both prefer the Q1 over the GMMK Pro.

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I hope this helps some people research the Keychron Q1 as a potential purchase. Please let me know if I'm missing information. I will also continue to update this post for the first few days as more information and reactions surface.

EDIT (8/26/2021): added feedback from Alex and Marcia's stream

EDIT (8/27/2021): added Hamaji Neo's review

TL;DR: Best keyboard I've ever owned!

I've been using my new Keychron Q1 HE for a few days and love just about everything it has to offer. Build quality is outstanding. You could use this heavy keyboard as a bludgeoning weapon if you run out of ammo during the zombie apocalypse.

Adding 2.4GHz wireless was long overdue and works so much better than Bluetooth. I use the keyboard wired to my PC and via 2.4GHz to my M3 Air. I'm now fully hooked on magnetic switches. The customization options are pretty cool. Typing on my other mechanical keyboards just feels wrong now.

I'm going to get a different set of keycaps. A minor annoyance is not being able to tell if CAPS LOCK is active since you can't see any lighting change through the caps. There's no height adjustment so I got a pair of little flip up risers ($7 Amazon) to raise the keyboard to a more comfortable typing position.

I prefer a lighter touch, so bought a set of Gateron Dawn magnetic switches along with the keyboard. These hot-swappable switches can be difficult to remove. I tried several tools, but nothing worked. I didn't want to use too much force and risk damaging my keyboard, so checked a few YT videos. I found a solution by using a watch band removal tool, I was able to pry up the switches with ease.

I'm super pleased with this Q1 HE. At $220, it ain't cheap, but I think it's well worth the price. I couldn't add pics to this post, so here's a link to them: Q1 HE pics